Story of a New Recruit
by Alex the Anachronistic
Summary: I think it's a little funny that he actually expected her to show up.


DISCLAIMER: I am making no money off of this, and this site isn't either. This is purely fan-fiction written by a weird person who has absolutely nothing better to do than write this stuff. I don't own Harry Potter, Hogwarts, Snape, etc. J.K.R. does.

Story of a New Recruit

Severus Snape paced, back and forth, oddly energetic in the chill of the frosty winter air. The ice on the sidewalk crunched under his boots in a comforting scrunching noise, and the nearby, bare trees of Hyde Corner rattled ominously. Not far off, the chiming of a clock signified the coming of a quarter past seven. Snape glanced around him, unsure of what to do with himself, and quickened his pace as though his increased speed could drive the cold away. He shivered stiffly as the streetlight above him flickered and burnt out. When would she get here? It wasn't like her to be so late. What if she was delayed? What if... if something had happened to her on the way? Snape swallowed with a grimace. Come now, he must keep a stiff upper lip; there was probably a logical explanation for her tardiness. Nevertheless, even with this reassuring thought, Snape worried.

A quarter of an hour passed, and Snape still waited for the woman of his dreams to come running into his arms. She did not come. Young Severus was more distraught than one could possibly know. He began to fidget, and become more and more restless. His ears were perked for the sound of any sign of her. Soon, finally, he thought he heard it. The slow, measured footsteps of dress shoes tapped down the clear patch of cement around the corner. Snape ceased his frenzied pacing immediately and stood awkwardly in eager waiting. Now the evening was theirs, theirs and theirs alone. With a true smile, an amazingly rare thing for Severus, he grasped the wrought iron of the fence beside him with one hand, and opened his other arm in an expectant pose. He really did love Lily Evans, dearly.

But it was not Lily who came round the corner, dressed in her dainty dance dress and shoes. Instead, rather, it was a different woman, in flashy bright Muggle attire and platforms. It was Bellatrix Black.

Snape instantly stood straight, embarrassedly pulling his hat down over his brow. His nose, however, and his poor timing, gave him away to the approaching woman.

"Why, if it isn't Severus," she said in a bit too friendly a manner, coming towards him and draping her arm coquettishly around his neck. Snape gently tried to pry it off of him, but she clung like a leech. She shone a smile at him, dazzling even in the poor light. "Have you considered, Severus," she said, obviously pumping him, "The proposition the Dark Lord has made of you?"

Severus thought back to the week prior, in which Lord Voldemort had asked him to join his minions. Snape was unsure of what to do about the situation; he dared not request Dumbledore's counsel on this matter. In the end, he decided to forget about the matter until after his date with Lily tonight. Now, however, Bellatrix wanted to know. Snape tried to think.

"I...I have thought about it, certainly," he said slowly.

Bellatrix looked distrusting. "Well," she said, "When you have a definite answer, do contact us. You're a talented wizard, and your talents shall go to waste if you don't join us." With that, she suddenly flung herself away from him and dashed away.

Snape was left rather stunned. For a few minutes he pondered over his position. He knew Lily would disapprove of this entire clan of people following the so-called 'Dark Lord'. On the other hand, though, Snape knew that the Death Eaters would give him the tools and materials he needed to become a great master at the dark arts, one of his lifelong ambitions. He had absolutely no reason to refuse the generous offer by Voldemort, yet he hesitated for Lily. Thus, as you see, the only reason Snape did not want to join the Death Eaters was because of her influence. But the time was coming soon when he needed to decide whether or not to follow his heart or his lust for glory.

Snape decided then, that, that night, he would ask Lily to marry him. They had been going out for a year, now, and of course, they had known each other for their seven years of school, also. If she accepted, which he knew in the bottom of his heart she would, he would not join the Death Eaters. If she refused, for some odd reason, he would leave her and join them immediately, but he knew this was not about to happen. Thus somewhat satisfied, Severus sat in idle contentment for the next half hour.

Finally, the sound of hurried pattering footsteps and panting interrupted the relative quiet of the evening. Snape stood, excited and nervous to see her. He did not smile or prepare for an embrace, lest he be wrong again.

However, this time it was Lily. She looked flushed and flustered, almost surprised to see Severus. Taking no notice, Snape gently wrapped her in a tight embrace. He was extremely relieved to see her in one piece. "Oh Lily," he whispered, holding her close. To his utmost surprise, she pushed him away. "Lily!" he exclaimed, realizing that something was amiss. "Are you all right?"

Lily brushed her hair back with her fingertips. "What? Oh, yes, I'm fine, quite fine Severus, and yourself?"

Snape, at this, began to fear and suspect something was not usual with her. "Lily," he said, "Where were you? I've been waiting for a whole three-quarters of an hour!"

Lily shrugged nonchalantly. "Ah, well, I was merely catching up with an old acquaintance over coffee. I simply lost track of time, that's all."

Snape looked down at her shrewdly. "Who was this 'acquaintance'?"

Lily tried to look as natural as possible. "Oh, just James Potter."

Snape's features turned grim in a split second. "Oh."

Lily realized she had disturbed the waters, and reached up to peck him gently on the cheek. "He's really not so bad once you get to know him, dear."

Snape didn't like the tone she used in that 'dear.' He thought back to the weeks before today, and realized that she had been almost always a bit late. Perhaps not so late as today, but late nevertheless. A cold chill crept into his voice. "Have you seen him often before this?"

Lily shook her head no. "Oh, no, no," she said, her head bobbing vigorously. But it was just a bit too vigorously to be sincere.

"You lie," Snape said, his throat getting tight. He realized now what was happening. "You lie," he said again, stepping back from her.

"No! Severus! No! I swear, it's the truth!"

He ignored her. His chest was heaving in great, heavy breaths, and he was desperately attempting to contain his emotions. "You lie," was all he said. With that, he turned on his heel and stalked angrily down the street, holding every tear building up inside him.

Lily didn't even protest his leaving. She stood there, a bemused expression on her face, not sure how such a thing could have happened, and simply watched him go. She made no effort whatsoever to stop him. In common understanding, yet unsaid, they both knew that anything they may have had in the past, as far as their relationship, no longer existed.

A block away, once he was out of sight and hearing of Lily, Snape finally slowed his pace. He didn't understand why he hadn't seen it before; it had been so obvious. He marched down the streets of Muggle London, not seeing, and not hearing. He had thought she loved him, but it was all a facade. He had believed in her smile, trusted the squeeze of her hand...and it was all for naught. It was more than poor Severus could handle.

He always hated James for what happened in their pasts, but never had he hated Lily. At least, he never hated her so long as she was never attracted to James. Even now he could not bring himself to hate her at all; he merely was very disappointed in himself for ever being so conceited as to think that she cared. With a pang of sorrow, he seated himself on an abandoned bench in a dark corner of the street. If Lily did not love him, he had nothing to stop him from joining the Death Eaters. He had no more reason to follow his heart; his heart was broken.

Bellatrix's voice fluttered back through his brain. _"...Do contact us. You're a talented wizard..."_

Snape frowned at this. He knew that this woman wasn't lying; these people had the highest regards for his talent and ambitions. In a moment, he was wondering why in the world he even had thought to choose between this and a woman. And so, Snape stood, in the frigid air of the December evening. With closed eyes and a much harder core, he disapparated to the Black's home be initiated into that terrible regime called the Death Eaters.

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